DACA recipients: We're here to stay

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

Joscyani Coria-Vargas uses her sign to shield her daughter Aliyah Vargas from the sun Sept. 9 at the Twin Falls County Courthouse in Twin Falls. Hundreds gathered at the courthouse to show their support for DACA.

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

From left to right, Ruben Ramirez, Yesenia Romo and Pepe Maciel cheer as they show their support for DACA during a rally Sept. 9 at the Twin Falls County Courthouse in Twin Falls.

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

Radio Host Benjamin Reed leads a protest in support of DACA on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017, at the Twin Falls County Courthouse in Twin Falls.

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

Brayan Orona, 9, holds an American flag as he attends a protest in support of DACA on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017, at the Twin Falls County Courthouse in Twin Falls.

PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS

Hundreds gather to show their support for DACA on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017, at the Twin Falls County Courthouse in Twin Falls.

NATHAN BROWN
nbrown@magicvalley.com

Sep 10, 2017

TWIN FALLS — Josie Coria has lived in the United States since her parents brought her here at age 2.

She wanted to be a doctor or a teacher. When President Barack Obama issued an executive order in 2012 to let many undocumented immigrants who came here as children stay without fear of deportation, she saw it as the ticket to her dreams.

“When I heard about DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), I was so happy because I could finally study and that was all I ever wanted,” she said.

She had just started college when she heard last week that President Donald Trump woud revoke DACA — “and my dreams were done,” she said.

Laura Prado’s parents brought her here when she was 7.

“The reality of being undocumented didn’t really start till I was a freshman in high school,” she said.

Thanks to DACA she was able to get a driver’s license and a job as a cashier at Walmart. She graduated as valedictorian of Jerome High School in 2016. She is now in her second year at the College of Southern Idaho, studying to be a pharmacist. Her grades got her scholarships. DACA let her work legally.

“DACA allowed me to be able to work at a pharmacy so I could get experience,” she said.

Coria and Prado are two of almost 3,200 Idahoans waiting to see whether the policy that for now is shielding them from deportation will remain.

About 200 people gathered in front of the Twin Falls County Courthouse Sept. 9 to show support for letting DACA recipients stay. For two hours they listened to speaker after speaker tell their stories on the courthouse steps.

DACA started just after Veronica Mojarra-Robles graduated from Burley High School in 2012. Wearing a white T-shirt with HERE TO STAY! written in black marker and carrying a handmade sign that said “My dreams are not illegal,” Mojarra-Robles said in Spanish that thanks to DACA she was able to achieve her goal of getting a job at a bank, and has moved up from teller to loan secretary.

“There are so many people like myself who have worked so hard and now we’re just going to lose it all,” she said. “It’s not fair.”

Benjamin Reed, on-air personality at the Jerome Spanish-language radio station 99.1 La Perrona, emceed, leading the crowd in chants in both English and Spanish and translating for some of the speakers.

Trump announced recently he would end DACA in six months, while urging Congress to pass a permanent fix. DACA recipients won’t be deported before then, Trump said, but what will happen long-term is unknown. While most Democrats and many Republicans in Congress support letting them stay, some want to tie a bill to other issues. U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, is among those who said it should be used as leverage for other Republican goals such as money for a border wall.

Reed called on Congress to pass a DACA-only bill.

“This could be done next week,” he said. “It’s not really something that has to be terribly involved. ... We don’t want the Dreamers to be used as a political football or a political pawn.”

DACA participants are often known as “Dreamers,” after the never-passed DREAM Act that would have established protections similar to Obama’s order.

The rally was organized by the Southern Idaho Progressive Coalition, Legislative District 25 Democrats (the district covers Jerome County and much of rural Twin Falls County) and J.U.M.P., or Jerome United — Making Progress. As well as the stories of DACA recipients, much of the rally was also about telling people to make their views heard by voting, contacting their lawmakers and running for office.

Liyah Babayan came to the United States as a refugee at age 10, her family having been forced from their homes in Azerbaijan due to a pogrom against ethnic Armenians that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. She is a U.S. citizen now, owns a business downtown and has been a member of the Twin Falls school board and various city commissions, but even still, she said, she sometimes has to deal with racist attacks, often being mistaken as Latino.

“Even now I am told to go back to my country,” she said. “And I’m told to go back to the wrong country because I’m told I’m supposed to go back to Mexico.”

Babayan is one of three candidates challenging now-Vice Mayor Suzanne Hawkins for her City Council seat. Babayan told the crowd to note who didn’t show up as well as who did, and to contact their elected officials.

“They know you’re powerless and they know you don’t have the information and they know they won’t hear from you — so prove them wrong,” Babayan said.

Roger Duffin of Murtaugh said he employs some DACA recipients at his business. He thinks the protesters need to make more noise.

“In the current situation in America, when you have a president that calls you rapists and killers, and you stand here and you’re being so nice, (saying) ‘I don’t think it’s about racism’ — bull——,” Duffin said.

“When you see someone with a Confederate flag driving down the road, you need to flip them off. ... It’s not going to get better, it’s getting worse,” he continued. “People are getting worse. They’re getting bolstered behind racism.”

Peter Rickards, a Twin Falls man who plans to run as a Democrat against U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, called on his opponent to help pass a no-strings DACA renewal. Simpson said last week he wants to see a “realistic” legislative approach for DACA recipients in the context of larger reforms including increased border security, a guest worker program, and addressing the legal status of other undocumented people.

“This is about all of us, and the American dream includes all of you,” Rickards said.